The Red Stain of Betrayal Case
by LionJustice
Summary: Read to find out. Sumary inside...One-Shot. Review if you liked it.


**Summary:** In episode 96 (Jap.) Yukiko was sure yusaku cheated on her because of a lipstick mark on his shirt (Althoughs it was never proved and Conan explained he would never do something like that.) but what if something very similar happened long before that time? Did he deceive her? Or something else deceived them both?

** .  
**

**Part 1: (The Crime)**

Kudo Residence – Friday 15th, 08:04 AM

Yukiko _[21 years old]_ entered the laundry room with a basket full of clothes waiting to be washed; she put each piece of clothing in the washing machine, one by one separating the white clothes from the color ones beforehand, like she always did. Another thing she always did before start the laundry was to inspect each piece in search of any particular stain that could need special care, especially Shinichi's _[__1 ¼ year old]_. It was amazing how at a very young age that little boy could walk around the entired house, with the exception of the stairs area, which case he always had the assistance from either Yusaku or Yukiko to go up or down. However going around the place sometimes meant getting dirty with ease, and his mother was to notice quickly.

Even so, it wasn't Shinichi's dirty clothes that got Yukiko's eye this time.

"Uh-" Her gaze fixed on a red stain on one of her husband's shirts. It was slightly blurred but there it was and the alarming part was the location of said stain…the collar. She traced her index finger over the stain and rubbed it against the thumb to tests the texture. There was no mistake then, it was _rouge. _

The immediate explanation to that…Yusaku was cheating on her! How could he do that?! Why would he, anyway? Yukiko squeezed furiously the shirt inside her fist but then stopped to consider another logical explanation before jumping to conclusions.

"Let's see…" She muttered thoughtfully while leaning against the washing machine.

X

The day before, Yukiko woke up at 8:30 AM with a note from Yusaku telling her he went out to meet up with a group of people from a magazine he was writing for at New Beika Hotel. She knew he left after breakfast because of the cup drying up on the kitchen sink. After noon her husband didn't return and Yukiko reminded herself she had to leave little Shinichi with someone cause she promised to meet a couple of friends to go shopping and she couldn't leave the boy alone in the house so she went to the most trusted person in mind and asked Dr Agaza to take care of him for a few hours, he happily obliged. After Shinichi turned one year old Agaza was always available to babysit the kid when either of his parents required so.

Yukiko lost the sense of time with her friends. After shopping all of them went to a gallery for something to drink until she realized it was forty minutes before dinner and her family would probably be waiting for her to make it since every time Yusaku tried to cook something for them Yukiko ended up putting out a fire.

When she got home she found her husband back but something was odd about his aspect, she thought. He was not dressed like he's been out on an important meeting; yes he was wearing slacks but also a T-shirt, something she knew Yusaku would never wear on a working meeting.

When he came to greet her, she gave him a kiss but at the same time placed one hand behind his head and his head felt fresh. It kinda made sense to her for a sec, he had probably taken a shower when he got home but then there was something else…although she did not kiss him on the mouth she perceived it, _alcohol_. He took a shower but perhaps it was a little too short to erase the scent of it completely.

During dinner, each of them told one another how their day went and fortunately when Yusaku's time came to speak, he explained to his wife that in fact he arrived home a little drunk, around 6:30 PM, and when he did he received a call from Dr Agaza making sure there was someone in the house to drop the boy, besides telling him the kid was starting to miss his parents. Yusaku told her he told the professor he felt a little too dizzy to pick Shinichi up and asked Agaza if he could bring him back home but when he did he was asleep in the sofa because of the hangover he felt back then but previously left the door open for his friend.

Surely the professor didn't want to bother him and left the kid entertained with a Coloring Book just in front of the couch where Yusaku was sleeping on. In fact it was Shinichi who woke him up later by pulling of his shirt. Most likely, a way of letting him know he was getting hungry and it was then his dad fixed him a little glass of milk and when to take a quick shower and fresh up while leaving Shinichi with his doodles, before Yukiko came home.

X

Yukiko's thoughts were on the people Yusaku told her was with him at the hotel. There were three editors from the magazine; two men and a woman, one of the two male editors had brought his daughter along with them and then there was a middle-aged married couple friends of Yusaku himself.

She was certain the full story wasn't explained to her and that only incriminated her husband even more. If Yusaku left the house before 8:30 AM and returned 6:30 PM, there had to be a reason for spending the day at a hotel and work wasn't all of it.

The paths were closing in and for her there was only one explanation…

Yukiko exited the laundry room, walked through the hallway and peered inside her son's bedroom. The little boy would be asleep for about an hour or so, silently she locked the door and then went to hers and Yusaku's bedroom and locked the door with her inside. She took a pillow on her hands and held it close to her face.

"Yusaku…" Her voice in a whisper. Holding the pillow even closer, then took a deep breath and…

"HE'S CHEATING ON ME!"

Kudo Residence – 5:00 PM

Shinichi was outside playing with his mother when they heard the door opening. Only one of them was happy to hear the voice coming from the front door.

"I'm home!"

Yukiko came inside holding little Shinichi in her arms to greet him. "Welcome back." Yukiko smiled.

"It's good to be home." Yusaku _[21-22 years old]_ smiled back and went to get a greeting kiss from his wife but…

"Here Shinichi, say hello to daddy. He surely missed you very much." She handed the boy to him before he could get to her.

The little kid smiled and squealed at his dad reaching for his face to touch while Yusaku watched Yukiko intently. At the touch of his son his attention turned to him. "Did you have fun today?" He asked.

Shinichi let out a little sound which Yusaku knew was a 'yes' and made him smiled.

"I'm going to get changed before making dinner. You stay with Shinichi, I'll be right back." The sound in her voice was cheerful, almost melodic. Then, why did it feel like something was not right for Yusaku?

An hour later the Kudo family had dinner. Father and mother sitting at both ends of the table and their child on one side. Even when Shinichi learned to feed himself Yukiko always insisted on helping him fearing how quickly her son learned to do things, and that he would stop needing her sooner than she would had thought. For that reason he always sat closer to her on the dining table.

Throughout dinner both adults chatted, like any other day, still Yusaku could not push that strange feeling out of his mind. Yukiko seemed calm, happy…then again, she was an actress and Yusaku had his sharp instincts. If he was going to find out what was it behind her smiling face, it had to be after getting their son to bed.

Knowing Yukiko, and he knew her alright, it could only be one of two possibilities. It could be one of her silly traumas from motherhood (Don't get it wrong, she loves being a mother and so loves her son.), or something immensely serious was going on.

Given option B, Yusaku would staunchly help her no doubt about that, yet…he hoped it to be option A, once again.

That night both gave Shinichi a kiss goodnight as usual, then Yusaku would tell him a short mystery story to go to sleep while Yukiko listen to him watching her son closing his sleepy eyes. But not this time…

"And that's why it was-**" **

"Mom's gone." Shinichi interrupted his dad before concluding his story.

Yusaku looked over his shoulder and saw the door half-open. He then turned to his son and said in a calm voice. "She's probably very tired. I'll make sure she's alright. Goodnight son." Yusaku got up from his seat.

"Night." The boy replied loosely closing his eyes.

His father smiled at the sight of his sleeping son. The smile soon disappeared as he closed the door and went to his own room. There was light coming from the groove under the door, she was inside.

Yusaku entered closing the door. "Yukik-" Before he turned around a book crashed against the door next to him at his head level. "What's the meaning of this?" He looked down at the book lying in the floor.

"That's what I'd like to know!" Yukiko said angrily standing before the bed and threw the stained shirt at him. "Come on, say it! Tell me that's the same shirt you wore yesterday for your meeting." She dared him.

Yusaku looked at the clothing and confirmed it. In respond, his wife threw another book over his head. "Wait a moment!" Yusaku said holding his hand in front of her to make her stop then he noted the rouge. "Eh-!"

Yukiko glared at him stepping slowly in his direction.

"Yukiko, it's not what it looks like." He said rationally.

"It looks like lipstick to me." She said steely.

The man looked closely at the stain. "Yes, in fact, it is lipstick but I-"

In the blink of an eye, Yukiko slapped him hard across the cheek before he could finish and pushed him out of the room slamming the door behind him.

"Dear?" Yusaku said close to the door standing in the hallway.

He heard her low yet cold voice from the inside of their bedroom. "You and I are not sleeping in the same bedroom tonight…but for Shinichi's sake be grateful to sleep inside the house."

Yusaku was about to object but it would be pointless. He knew there was no way talking her out of her rage for the moment. He then let out a long sigh and headed down stairs.

"Dad?"

His son called to him from the frame of his bedroom. "Did you hear something, Shinichi?"

"Is mom mad?" The boy asked.

Yusaku blinked and walked over before him. "Something like that but don't you worry, son."

"Does it hurt?"

"Uh?"

Shinichi pointed to the mark of his mom's hand printed on his father's cheek.

Yusaku chuckled slightly to hide the pain on his face. "Let's get you back to bed."

A few minutes later Shinichi was sound asleep and Yusaku went downstairs, still not quite understanding why he should sleep in the couch. He laid down and rested his hands behind his head, his mind wouldn't stop going around the matter.

In her bedroom, Yukiko turned her back on her husband's side of the bed, looking straight out the window. Still not getting it, Yusaku's infidelity was a fact for her, she spend most of the night thinking of a way to make him pay.

**Part 2: (Investigation and Research)**

Kudo Residence – Saturday 16th, 10:15 AM

On a usual Saturday, even on weekend, Yusaku Kudo would be working on his studio since first in the morning. But…this wasn't a _usual_ Saturday now, was it?

_Saturday 16__th__, 08:02 AM_

Yusaku was still asleep since his alarm was on the bedside table from _his_ side of the bed in _his_ bedroom, place he didn't have the chance to sleep in the night before. His wife didn't even bother on wake him up.

Instead she started from early cleaning the house; starting for the living room dusting the shelves located behind the couch where her husband slept. She did the dusting with such energy that it lifted a dusting cloud in the air making Yusaku forcefully wake up from a loud sneeze, dislocating his neck from the bad position.

When he went to take a warm shower to relax the muscles of his neck, Yukiko _casually_ entered the kitchen and turned on the tap. The painful screams from the man coming from the bathroom were music to her ears, she thought.

_Current time. _

Just minutes ago Yukiko told him she would go out for a little jogging, but not without warning him in a low voice close to his ear to be careful with the behavior he would teach their son during her absence before leaving.

Yukiko went out for a walk but before that she sneaked into her husband's studio and snatched his agenda.

At Beika Hotel, she sat on a table at the hotel's cafeteria and searched the little book. "Here!" She exclaimed.

"_Thursday 14__th__, 08:00 AM. New Beika Hotel_." It said.

New Beika hotel was far south from the Baika Hotel on the same side of the mean street, she calculated it would take little more than twenty minutes for Yusaku to get to the hotel from their house with the car. She knew she could get there in less than that if _she_ was the one behind the wheel so she went back to the house.

Yukiko headed to the garage without being noticed and went to her car, but she looked inside one of the side windows to check on her son and husband first. In fact she found them both in the living room, Yusaku was lying face down on the floor with his son standing beside him with his chin resting on his little fingers in a thoughtful manner.

She wondered for a slight moment if something happened to Yusaku but then her eye caught him looking at Shinichi from the corner of his one eye open. Her sight's always been good for details so she knew he was just performing a crime scene to entertain his son.

Yusaku was a caring father and the view of them both was just too cute to withstand for her. But that only remained her how furious she was. Sure, he played with the little boy, but he also played with her too and a very hot shower wasn't punishment enough for him.

Yukiko then got into the car and speeded up to New Beika Hotel.

New Beika Hotel – 10:31 AM

Yukiko entered the reception and spoke to the receptionist. "Please could you help me, Sir?"

"Of course, Miss." The man said.

"I need to know if the novel writer, Yusaku Kudo stayed here for the day two days ago." The woman asked.

The receptionist denied letting out that information at first, however, Yukiko was indeed one of the most beautiful women in the country…and she hasn't lost her touch. It only took her sky blue eyes and a couple of smiles from her juvenile rosy lips to get what she wanted to know.

"Thank you for your help." She grinned and went to take a seat at the hotel's restaurant where she found out Yusaku's party stayed most of the day.

"Here we have…" She started reviewing the information she got out of the receptionist. Which coincided with what Yusaku had told her the same day during dinner. "Kyoko Asami, one of the editors. Megumi Akechi, the married woman friend of Yusaku. And Sumi Totsugawa, one of the other editors' daughter. One of these three women is the Family Breaker."

Yukiko only got their names; it was not much but something to start with. She seemed merged in thoughts when one of the bartenders approached her.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The guy said. She didn't notice.

"Ma'am?" He called again, Yukiko didn't move a muscle.

"Uh. I'm sorry, Ma-"

"You call me _that_ again and you'll see yourself thrown out of the window in no time." She told him with a frown and a wicked grin on her face that got the boy pretty scared.

"I- I'm sorry but, aren't you Yukiko Kudo; the former actress?" That certainly got her attention.

"I am." She granted with an even stare now.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I attended Teitan High School until two years ago and saw all of your performances in the school plays…You were always amazing." He smiled.

"Why, that's very nice of you." She smiled back. Then she understood, he probably knew she is married and only wanted to refer to her properly by calling her that way and not refer to her as _old_, like she thought a moment ago. "I'm sorry about what I said…" She bowed her head in apology.

"Not at all, it's ok." He bowed his head as well. "Now, excuse me but I couldn't help overhear you at the reception and I think I might be able to help."

Yukiko's eyebrow jerked in curiosity.

"I was in charge of this wing of the restaurant two days ago and saw Yusaku Kudo and his companions sitting right in that table." He told her pointing to the table right in front of her table.

She stood up from her table and walked over the one he pointed. It was a pretty large oak table with space for eight people, she considered. "Did Yusaku ever got up from his seat at the same time that someone else in the table?"

"Hmm-" The bar tender thought for a moment. "Actually, he did get up once, probably to go to the restroom but he did so on his own."

"I see." Yukiko muttered.

"Ah, wait." The guy said. "Just a few minutes later, the youngest looking woman on the table got up too. Like twenty minutes later only he returned to the table for the rest of their stay here."

"_Twenty minutes? A suspicious lapse of time to go and get back from the restroom on a working meeting._" She deduced with two fingers beneath her chin.

"I'm sorry; do you by change remember the way they were all sitting in the table that night?" Yukiko asked in a childish way.

Indeed he remembered and explained to her how they sat clockwised. Yusaku sat on the right side of the table closest to the window, next to him on his left was a middle age man; the oldest on the table. Next to him was a woman about the same age as him with tied hair and an empty seat.

On the left side of the table sat a bearded guy, a long-haired woman in her late twenties; to her left sat a man of thirty some years old and the closest to the window from the left side of the table was the youngest female, a girl with a teenage face with dark wavy hair.

Yukiko analyzed the spots on the table and told the bar tender while smiling. "Would you take a sit with me?"

The guy blinked and both took a sit on opposite sides of the table. It was a wide table, that's way Yukiko had to test something. The bartender felt a little nervous sharing the table at his place of work with the beautiful actress, suddenly, added to that his face turned seriously red.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I thought something walked over my foot." She lied innocently removing her foot from his leg's side.

"No. Problem. At all." The bartender stammered loosening his tie a bit.

Then Yukiko thanked the bartender by giving him an autograph. He then told her, her gesture from earlier under the table was reward enough which made her blush awkwardly and she exited the hotel right to the parking lot to get her car.

"Just as I thought…" Yukiko muttered. The table was very wide but not enough so that her feet wouldn't reach the legs of the person sitting across from her. She tightened her grip on the wheel as she thought; how convenient for Yusaku to have a woman sitting across from him on the table and give the position of their seats only one woman was able to reach him…or the other way around with the foot. And also the fact that she was the only woman to leave her seat just after him! All the evidence pointed at Sumi Totsugawa.

Then something else bothered her…the fact that this Sumi girl was the youngest of them at the table, which meant younger than Yusaku. And if the girl resulted to be younger than Yukiko herself, her ex-husband-to-be would be literally swimming in boiling water not least.

Kudo Residence – 12:25 PM

Yusaku wondered what could take her so long; Yukiko was never late to make lunch for them. Good thing, their friend the professor arrived in time for lunch with a basket full with food.

"Good timing, my friends. Almost as if you knew we were getting hungry." Kudo grinned patting the professor's shoulder.

After lunch Yusaku left his son playing with his favorite toy cubes at the living room and sat with Agaza across the room to talk. He told him about what happened the night before to the professor's surprise.

"Could it be I was more drunk than I thought and that's way I don't remember a thing?" Yusaku told himself. "I mean I did fall asleep on the couch, didn't I?"

"Quit joking!" Dr Agaza _[37 years old]_ said between chuckles. "Not even blind, deaf and dumb you could be capable of doing that to Yukiko."

Yusaku smiled. "You're absolutely right. But the stain she found was rouge indeed, I confirmed it myself…"

"Eh? What rouge?" The professor asked.

"The red stain on the collar of the shirt."

Agaza remounted himself to that day and told him. "But, when I came by to drop Shinichi with you there was nothing like that on your shirt, I'm sure of it."

Yusaku's gaze widened but soon became thoughtful again. "Now that's odd..." He said. "I'd already changed clothes when Yukiko came home so she didn't get to see me wearing that shirt. But after that she was the only one to touch it besides myself." He said holding his chin with his thumb and index finger. A trademark gesture of the Kudo family when they sank in thoughts deducing a case.

That's when a mischievous grin formed on his friend's lips beneath his dark moustache. "It's clear to me now." He grinned, Yusaku looked at him intently. "She's your wife after all, and the red stain didn't show up until after you got home, so…"

The red stain was now on Yusaku's cheeks as he shook them off. "That's impossible; I was not wearing that shirt when she came home. Besides, nothing like that happened then." He assured his friend bashfully.

"Right." Agaza agreed. "In that case, she's pulling a very bad joke by putting lipstick on your shirt to throw such acusations on you."

Yukiko was childish sometimes, but would never do that to him, let alone letting it get that far. He was certain. "But that's not it my friend. I was the drunken one then, not her…" Yusaku said calmly.

"Right again, sorry." The professor apologized rubbing the back of his neck.

On the streets in front of Beika's Post Office – 06:22 PM

Yukiko stayed inside her car, parked across the street in front of Beika's Post Office. She looked at her wrist clock and sighed. She'd spent the day tracking down Miss Totsugawa till she got her apartment's address. When she arrived the housekeeper opened the door and thought Yukiko was one of the Miss's friends from College she felt flattered, of course, and used it to her advantage asking the housekeeper where she could find the girl.

At 06:20 PM Yukiko arrived the post office but then she realized she had spent all day out of home and she was really missing her son. But thinking about her son leaded her to think about _Yusaku_, and that remained her that although his crime was a fact, as a good detective she needed the culprit's confection and that would make two of them.

She didn't see the girl coming in or out of the office, so deduced Totsugawa was probably inside and given the post office would be closing for the day in about thirty minutes Yukiko got out of the car and went inside.

It wasn't hard to find the girl with dark wavy hair. She had a sweet face, indeed like the bartender said, _a teenage face. _The girl looked 4 inches shorter than Yukiko as she approached her; Miss Totsugawa had a large package surely to deliver at the post office in her hands but that was beyond Kudo's importance.

"Can I help you?" Sumi Totsugawa _[19 years old]_ said to the woman beside her.

"Certainly, you can. You're Sumi Totsugawa, am I right?" Yukiko smiled.

The girl nodded and both sat on a table out in the open outside the building. The two women chatted not before introducing themselves to one another. Yukiko, of course, did so giving her real name…she wanted Sumi to see what was coming to her as she got the confession out of the girl.

"Yes, actually Mr. Kudo left the table for a moment and I went after him shortly after-" Sumi told her.

There, she admitted the crime. "I knew it!" Yukiko stroke the slammed the table with her fist attracting lots of attention from the people waking by the street. "Couldn't fool me. You're the family breaker Yusaku deceived me with!" She shouted standing up, pointing at the girl with her finger.

People around started looking at them. "Mr. Kudo and I- What?" Miss Totsugawa blurted out highly surprised. Then she began giggling to Yukiko's annoyance.

"You think it's funny, don't you? I'll give you something to laugh about!" Yukiko undid the button of her wrist, rolling up the sleeve.

"Wait! Please!" The girl pleaded trying to calm her down. "I went after him but he already entered the restroom so I waited until he came out to greet him before leaving the hotel."

"Wha- You left the hotel?" Yukiko looked at her in shock.

Sumi nodded and continued. "Indeed. I told my father I had to leave and he told me some of them were going to a bar outside the hotel for a couple of drinks. And told me to say goodbye to Mr. Kudo before leaving."

"When did you leave the hotel?" Yukiko asked.

"Hm, around 04:46 PM I think. I arrived home at almost five o'clock." The girl seemed quite certain.

"Was anyone there when you got home?" The other woman asked.

Sumi thought for a moment. "No, I was alone but I'd got a call from my boyfriend a few minutes later. He's out of the country for the moment and last time we spoke he said he would call me that day around that hour." The girl blushed slightly then. "I forgot my cell phone at home and that's why I came home early…silly isn't it."

Yukiko tried to laugh but felt quite crestfallen seeing Totsugawa had an alibi and then she thought…"What about the lipstick? Didn't you give Yusaku a kiss or something before leaving the hotel?"

"Oh, I would never do that. He's a married man…and very happily so from what he told us." Sumi smile widely. "We only shook hands."

Her words made Yukiko feel relief but the feeling was fleeting as she recalled another detail. "There were two other women with you, right? Did they have any make-up on?"

"My- let me think." The girl tried to remember. "I couldn't see much of Miss Asami, one of my father's co-workers. She was sitting on the same side of the table as me, but I'm sure I saw her wearing a strange lipstick color when I greeted her the first time I saw her at the hotel. Something dark, like brown or so…"

The lipstick on Yusaku's shirt was bright red so it couldn't be her, Yukiko thought. That only left her husband's friend Akechi's wife, Megumi Akechi. She asked about her lipstick color and Sumi confirmed it.

Kudo apologized deeply for the accusation she made on the girl and fired out of there and into her car. She had the name now, and she had Yusaku's agenda which meant…she had the couple's address.

**Part 3: (Case Closed)**

Kudo Residence – 07:49 PM

Yusaku did his best throughout the day but Shinichi was just tireless. He ran out of ideas to keep the kid occupied and his son wanted his mother back!

Yusaku went back and forth around the whole thing and still couldn't figure out how that lipstick got on his shirt. He sat at the lobby on his chair and sank in thoughts for the millionth time that day. Something bothered him but what was it?

He then looked at his son marching on strike at the front door holding a sign with the words '_MOMMY COME BACK!_' on bright red over his head. Yusaku smiled at the picture while thinking to himself…"_I miss her too, son._" Not for an instant he thought Yukiko would abandon them, never. But did wonder where she would be right now.

After a double take on his son's sing his mind went back to Professor Agaza's words that afternoon. "_In that case, she's pulling a very bad joke by putting lipstick on your shirt-"_

And it hit him. The thing that has been bothering him since the first moment he saw that stain on the shirt. The rouge was just slightly blurred but it was easy to see that under any angle that mark was not made by lips. Reviewing the facts, Yusaku reconsidered about what happened when he came home that afternoon, after that he went to look into Shinichi's Coloring Book and all made sense…he only needed the proof.

08:12 PM

"Mommy!" Shinichi screamed cheerfully throwing his arms to his mother entering the house.

"Shinichi, what are you doing here?" Yukiko said surprised to see her welcoming committee and looked down at the sign lying on the floor. She felt like crying for the second time that day, but this time it was out of joy. "Mommy missed you too, darling!" She said lifting him in her arms while giving him a tight hug.

"Dad is next room." Her little boy said pointing to the door.

Yukiko looked at the living room where his finger pointed, picturing her husband behind a book or behind the computer on his desk but she didn't wish to see him yet. "He sure is, come on now I'm cooking dinner for us." She said sweetly and took her son to the kitchen.

Shinichi sat on the table very happy to see his mom back and stood in silence to show her how good boy he was. He never said it, but Shinichi knew from last night she was mad at his father because of something, but after she left the house that day he also thought for a moment that she left because of something wrong he didn't know he did as well and wanted to make it up to her staying quiet while his mom made dinner.

"Yukiko?" Her husband called her from the kitchen's door frame. "Can we talk?" His voice emotionless.

Yukiko deduced he wanted to speak with her out of their son's hearing range. She thought it was for the best as well and asked Shinichi to wait for them as she placed the last plate on the table before start eating.

She entered the studio and saw Yusaku standing before his desk with his back facing her. "It's over Yusaku…You've been caught." She stated coldly.

"So I am…"

The last time Yukiko's ever cried was on May 4th, one year and three months ago, the day Shinichi came to the world. Although back then those were tears of joy, from that day on Yukiko believed she would never cry for any other reason in her life, for with Shinichi now in their life…everything would be just perfect.

And now, there she was standing in the door frame at the edge of crying…but if any tear was to slide down her face now, the cause of it would be a whole different from what it was back then all that time ago.

Yusaku knew from her silence and he would not allow himself be the reason of his beloved wife's tears. "Come over here, there's something I want to show you." She couldn't see his face but it sounded like he was smiling.

"Uh?" Yukiko was confused. She disliked when Yusaku made her feel uncertain of things she felt certain about. He always knew before her.

She got close to the desk and her husband handed her a thin book. "Take a look." He asked her.

"This is Shinichi's." She said going through the pages of his Coloring Book.

"What do you see?" Yusaku asked. His attention was on his wife viewing and reviewing the pages till her inquiring gaze turned into one of big surprise.

This one was not the current book the boy colored but the one before the one Agaza gave him. Most of the pages had drawings meant to be colored in red. A fire truck, the classic Japanese Sun with long red rays, cartoonish hearts and such.

Looks like their son ran out of red crayon very quickly.

"This is his too." Yusaku said holding the crayons box before his wife's eyes and added. "But not all of what's inside belongs to him, dear."

Yukiko looked at him still stunned by his discovery. She held the little box still in Yusaku's hand and opened it.

"That's my-" She gasped.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you after the meeting many of us went to a bar to have a few drinks. I guess I was too drunk to remember when I got here and I thought we never left the hotel in the first place. At the time of my arrival the house was empty and after getting the professor's call I fell asleep on the couch. Moments later when I woke up it was because of our son tugging of my shirt but what I didn't realize at the moment was-"

"He was pulling of your collar and he had my red lipstick in his hand when he did it." Yukiko finished for him; feeling fooled by her own one year old son and lipstick. Her face turned fiery red.

Yusaku smiled widely trusting the case was closed and noticed the blush on her cheeks. "Is everything alright now?"

How did he do it? She wondered, she thought the worst about him from the beginning yet he remained so calm and relaxed. Yukiko should've known better…even after a hangover he believed himself innocent from the very start and he was right.

Occasionally she would feel kind of annoyed at his close-to-perfection persona; this time she was greatly thankful. Yukiko looked right in her husband eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck pulling him into a deep kiss. Yusaku kissed her back accepting her apology but soon both had to break the kiss because of their son's starving cries.

Later, during diner. "So, did you have fun going around the city looking for more evidence?" Yusaku asked.

"You knew?-"

"Please, Yukiko. I couldn't find my agenda anywhere and when I took our son for a walk at the park I looked into the garage and your car wasn't there. A little suspicious for just a little jogging, if you ask me." He said taking a sip of his drink.

Yukiko smiled sheepishly but gladly. At the end of her day she thought she had caught him, it turned out he caught her.

"I can only think of two logical explanations." Yusaku said getting the attention of the other two members of his family. "You couldn't believe me capable of doing such a thing to you and went out to gather more information from the witnesses at the hotel…" He got that part _half_ right, she thought. "Or you tracked down the other half of the supposed culprit and then you-" He stopped talking as he saw the look of fake innocence on his wife's face.

Shinichi looked at them both feeling like he missed something out.

"Yukiko, what did you do exactly?" Yusaku raised one eyebrow.

"Well- Let's just say Mrs. Akechi will need something_ more_ than just lipstick and make-up to look likable again…at least for a little while."

X

Outside Akechi Residence – 07:04 PM

Yukiko watched Megumi Akechi _[43 years old]_ exiting her house. Her eyes couldn't believe the looks of the woman Yusaku cheated on her with…Blonde dyed hair (She could tell.) tied in a pony tail, wearing glasses, with a little more weight than needed deducing from her height, Yukiko considered. And when she heard her telling someone inside her house where she was going Yukiko wished to be deaf right there and then. To top it all the woman looked like she doubled her age! (Not the best forties Yukiko's seen, that's sure.)

At the single thought of Yusaku deceiving her with that kind of woman Yukiko's face turned pale and instantly felt like retching.

Anyway, she got to hear where the woman was heading and it was a beauty salon around the corner. Seeing she wouldn't have to go too far after her Yukiko got out of her car. When she got one foot into the building her eyes fixed on the magazines over the table.

Yukiko felt a little alarmed seeing her photo on one of the covers so she quickly sidled up to a door before being seen. She entered the personal's room and the idea just came to her…the perfect disguise and the perfect way to get back at the family breaker.

She came out wearing one of the salon's coats, holding her previously-tied curly hair with a pink kerchief and hid herself behind a pair of blue colored glasses. The girl finishing washing Mrs. Akechi's hair waved at her and told her she could begin dyeing the woman's hair.

When Yukiko came over she spotted the bowl with the mix for the dyeing but she didn't know what to do with it. Or course, she never had to dye her own hair before. She then noticed Megumi's red lips through the mirror and thought about her husband, withstanding the urge to scream and throttle the woman before her with a towel or something…but then she overheard Megumi Akechi's annoying voice babbling and bragging about her meeting with the young writer Yusaku Kudo and when Yukiko heard her talking about how fun and handsome he was she was already pouring something she wasn't sure what it was and some other chemicals into the mix.

In a few minutes she finished applying it to Mrs. Akechi's hair.

"All done!" Yukiko said cheerfully and exited the scene.

It was close to eight o'clock, almost an hour went by and Yukiko waited inside her car across the street from Akechi's residence when she spotted from her side mirror Mugumi coming back home trying to hide a huge hole in her crown zone with her purse.

X

Yusaku looked at his wife wide-eyed but then told her he kind of expected something like that while getting to the part of her disguising as a worked at the salon. He felt a little sorry in the inside for his friend's wife but in the end everything worked out…at least for the Kudos.

Shinichi looked at them intrigued talking about evidence, culprits and such and told them. "I want to play Detective like you two."

.

For those who had read my other fanfics this must be quite surprising...well, I did leave said I was catching on the Detective Conan series lol Some time ago while going through the site I red a fic and agreed with someone who said there are not enough fics about this pairing, although in my case this is kinda like a 'family-fic', and also agreed on the fact that I like this couple's dynamic so here's my contribution.

I hope you enjoyed it^^


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